Damme's link with Nepal

Ensemble Isabella

Frank Deleu

On  Sunday last, to a morning concert in the Stadshuis in Damme, part of the Musica Flandrica Damme 2018-19 programme organised by Frank Deleu and his wife Judith. Frank, who was the Carillonneur of Brugge and retired two years ago, retains the Damme post still and with it, a strong association with this beautiful little town. The concert was charming, entitled Fantasticke Love and featuring the wonderful music of organist, William Byrd, and lutenist, John Dowland, total favourites of my late husband and me. The group, Ensemble Isabella comprised Lisa Dunk, voice, Claire Piganiol harp and Marie Verstraete, viola da gamba and blokfluit. Both instrumentalists were outstanding and the choice, for encore, of Scarborough Fair, a beloved English folk song, rounded off a musical English morning beautifully. My cup ranneth over when the two boys I was with, not only agreed to go but wanted to go into Indigo, a marvellous dress shop-cum-gallery opposite the Stadshuis, which I only occasionally visit, a trip to Damme, so close to Brugge, being hard work without a car!

Attending the concert gave me the opportunity to look more closely at the splendid Town Hall which was built in 1464-67 on the site of a larger 1241 ship house of wood and stone. Damme became the thriving port for Brugge and the ground floor of the new building served as a warehouse for goods with Justice and administration dispensed upstairs. The facade is magnificent with stone double staircases adorned with lions and six niches filled by Gustaaf Pickery as late as 1895/6. The 39 bell carillon installed in the 17^th century bell tower includes two bells reputedly from the 14^th century, though the main carillon was not put in place until 1961 while the city clock, installed in 1459, still sounds out the hours. I always love to see the two little high platforms on the two chimneys at either end of the roof, which have been introduced especially for storks to build their nests upon and, sure enough, one was in residence last week. Inside the concert room there are huge mediaeval beams, some with intricate carvings by Wouter van Inghen, 1464/5, from Sluis, disappearing through the ceiling towards the roof, hiding, no doubt, more majestic displays in the trusses above. Deservedly, the Stadshuis has been a designated protected monument since 1938. What a wealth of built treasures Flanders has!

The owner of Indigo, the afore-mentioned dress shop-cum-gallery in Damme markt, is a prominent founder/supporter of Ketaketi, a Bruggean  charity started in 2001 to support the school, Melamchi
Ghyang in Nepal. It is a small aid project aimed at helping Nepalese development through education
and healthcare. After a devastating earthquake in 2015, the group sent direct emergency aid with

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 sleeping bags, mattresses for the boarding school, solar water heaters and so on. It continues to give broader support for the reconstruction of the school. Every two years the Ketaketi Charity  

 holds a major fund-raising event normally a luncheon where an art auction takes place with artists each donating a piece of work for sale and there are occasional concerts like the one planned for Friday 22nd February in Galerie Indigo at 20.00 when Emily Cassiman will be in concert.Tickets are 20.00 euros online and 25.00 at the door. This is an amazing project.

John Dowland 1563-1626

William Byrd 1540-1623